Ms. Wheelchair Missouri delivers inspirational message in Cape

This summer Katie Rodriguez Banister will be one of 29 women on wheels competing for the title of Ms. Wheelchair America.

As the current Ms. Wheelchair Missouri, Banister gave the first of two inspirational talks at the SEMO Alliance for Disability Independence Tuesday morning in Cape Girardeau, using humor to help empower others to learn from the challenges of life.

Another talk was scheduled for 6 p.m. at the SADI office, 1913 Rusmar St., Cape Girardeau.

Banister, of St. Louis, was selected as Ms. Wheelchair Missouri through an application process since there is not currently a contest event in this state. She will represent Missouri in the Ms. Wheelchair America competition in Grand Rapids, Mich., in August.

"It's going to be exciting," Banister said. "It's a weeklong competition, and it's a lot more than just a beauty pageant."

The competition is based on advocacy, achievement, communication and presentation in an effort to choose the best spokeswoman for people with disabilities.

Banister said she will coordinate a Ms. Wheelchair Missouri contest for women with disabilities in 2011.

Banister competed in junior miss pageants as a teenager before a rollover accident left her a quadriplegic in 1990.

She went through six months of rehabilitation, telling her physical therapist she wasn't leaving rehab until she could put on her own lipstick.

She described herself as a "Barbie Girl" before she was paralyzed.

"People treat you like you are asexual when you have a disability," Bannister said. "It feels good to be feminine. I miss doing my own hair, and I miss my high heels."

Through the years she's learned to use her arms with special braces that help her to hold silverware and ink pens.

"The first time I could move my arm, my mom acted like she'd won the lottery," Bannister said. "Every time someone came over she'd tell them to come see me move my arm. I felt like a seal at the zoo."

That is an example of how important it is for those with disabilities to celebrate small accomplishments, she said.

Banister is the author of three books, which she said started out as entries in her journal.

After writing her first book, "Aunt Katie's Visit," an educational book for children about accepting those with disabilities, Bannister began talking to groups of students.

One page of the book illustrates Banister in the shower with a caregiver helping bathe her. "I tell children it's kind of like being in a car wash and they get it. They say, 'Oh, OK, that's how she does that,'" she said.

Banister is the president of Access-4-All LLC and has written two other books: "The Personal Care Attendant Guide" and "A Pocket of Poems and How to Write Your Own."

Her poetry book is aimed at teaching young people to write poetry as a coping mechanism.

"I work with folks to turn their anger and depression into art," Banister said. "You have to find creative ways to deal with what life gives you."

Those attending Banister's talk Tuesday said they were inspired by her story.

"Her attitude is amazing. I've been in my chair nine years, and I'm nowhere near where she is," said Amy Koehler of Friedheim, who, like Banister, became paralyzed after her vehicle rolled over.

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent Address:

1913 Rusmar St., Cape Girardeau MO